Ta-Nehisi Coates and We Have Voice Collective to Keynote Chamber Music America’s 2019 National Conference

New York, NY (October 15, 2018)—Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network of ensemble music professionals, announced today that author Ta-Nehisi Coates and the We Have Voice Collective will keynote at CMA’s 2019 National Conference, Building Equitable Communities.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a distinguished writer in residence at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. He is the author of the bestselling books The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power, and Between The World And Me, which won the National Book Award in 2015. Ta-Nehisi is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. He is also the current author of the Marvel comics The Black Panther and Captain America.

We Have Voice is a collective of 14 musicians, performers, scholars, and thinkers working to bring awareness to issues of inequity in the field. The collective released its Code of Conduct to Promote SAFE(R) Workplaces in the Performing Arts earlier this year.

The We Have Voice Collective is comprised of Fay Victor, Ganavya Doraiswamy, Imani Uzuri, Jen Shyu, Kavita Shah, Linda May Han Oh, María Grand, Nicole Mitchell, Okkyung Lee, Rajna Swaminathan, Sara Serpa, Tamar Sella, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Tia Fuller.

Both of these sessions will underline CMA’s 2019 conference theme, Building Equitable Communities. “We are privileged to be hosting a revolutionary voice in journalism in Ta-Nehisi Coates and a powerful and unique coalition of advocates in We Have Voice,” commented Margaret M. Lioi, Chief Executive Officer of Chamber Music America. “The perspectives of Ta-Nehisi Coates and We Have Voice are both necessary and significant in the national dialogue of inclusion and equitable practices within and beyond the field of small ensemble music.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates will speak on Friday, January 18. The We Have Voice Collective will appear on Saturday, January 19.

CMA’s 2019 National Conference: Building Equitable Communities, will take place January 17-20, 2019 at the Westin New York at Times Square. Conference Registration is now open.

Chamber Music America, the national network of ensemble music professionals, was founded in 1977 to develop, strengthen, and support the chamber music community. With a membership including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artists’ managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes members representing a wide range of musical styles and traditions. In addition to its funding programs, CMA provides its members with consulting services, access to instrument and other insurances, conferences, seminars, and several publications including Chamber Music magazine and the weekly e-newsletter, Accent.